Democrats Expected To Decide On Convention Site Soon

FILE – Shown in this Aug. 28, 2013 file photo is the Liberty Bell near Independence Hall in Philadelphia. WASHINGTON Hillary Clinton, the presumed frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, will give a pair of speeches Wednesday in Canada hosted by a major bank that has been the subject of several investigations into wrongdoing over the past dozen years.WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Warren celebrated her takedown of President Obama’s nominee for a top Treasury spot last week by signaling a readiness for her next battle: blocking those who meddle with the post-2008 financial reform known as the Dodd-Frank Act.WASHINGTON (AP) — Inside the Democratic Party, economic policy is often seen as a contest between President Barack Obama’s track record and the anti-Wall Street approach advocated by Massachusetts Sen.

The Republican-controlled House last week passed a bill that would ease Dodd-Frank rules and sent it to the Senate, one of several changes approved in recent days. But the upcoming US election in 2016 may offer a choice of two powerful women candidates: former First Lady Hillary Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Party officials are expected to make a final decision in late January or early February. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)The Associated PressFILE-This Monday, Feb. 25, 2008 file photo shows the skyline of downtown Columbus, Ohio. But the appearances are all but certain to fuel complaints that she’s too close to the corporate elites, especially coming a day after President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech focusing on the plight of the middle class and signs that several top Republicans also plan to make economic populism a centerpiece of their campaigns.

The Massachusetts senator and her allies in the Democratic Party’s liberal wing, who have turned into a viable threat to Wall Street, insist they will do their utmost to derail all rollback efforts. A group of Clinton advisers offered a detailed economic agenda last week that aims to help raise wages for millions of workers and narrow the gap between rich and poor. Biden Jr. was actually the only other potential Democratic contender to be rated one way or the other by a majority of Democrats; 40 percent want him to run and 38 percent say they do not. Clinton has given dozens of speeches since leaving office as Secretary of State, many for free and many drawing paychecks of as much as $200,000 to $300,000.

The policy road map was produced at the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think tank stocked with veterans of the Bill Clinton and Obama administrations. It appeared to focus on those who are disenchanted with Obama and skeptical that Clinton would effectively police Wall Street and champion middle-class workers. “While there are large forces, globalization, technology and more, that are creating large challenges for many workers, there is no excuse or intellectual basis for fatalism,” said Larry Summers, one of its authors and a former treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton who later worked for Obama. Clinton is expected to endorse more infrastructure projects that create jobs and she has also spoken of the importance of creating an online public university where anyone can win a degree.

In 2003, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce settled a case with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $80 million for allegedly helping the Enron energy company mislead investors through a series of transactions over a period of several years, according to the SEC. By leading the successful effort to vanquish investment banker Antonio Weiss in his bid for Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, she drew cheers from her populist base and all but ensured the White House will steer away from future Treasury picks with strong Wall Street ties. With a price tag of at least $65 million, the choice will come down to whether to set the stage for Obama’s Democratic successor in a big city or in the confines of another battleground state. A Harvard Law professor, she came to the attention of the American voters when President Obama tapped her to set up the US Financial Protection Bureau. Webb is the only candidate on the Democratic side to have taken formal steps toward a run in 2016, recently forming an exploratory committee as he weighs a bid.

Obama was formally nominated in Denver in 2008 and in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2012, allowing his campaign to use the events to register new voters and recruit volunteers in states crucial to his political map. And again in 2005, the bank agreed to pay nearly a half million dollars to settle SEC allegations that it broke the law by underwriting municipal securities for the state of California after making campaign donations to six politicians, including former Democratic California Gov.

In her recently published memoir, she describes the tough period her family went through after her father suffered a heart attack and couldn’t work. Warren’s rise has drawn heavy fire from Washington’s business lobby. “The idea that enterprise and American companies should be more vigorously regulated by the government, and in fact controlled by the government, is a view that we don’t share,” Chamber of Commerce president Thomas Donohue said last week, when asked about Warren. Warren, in a speech this month to the AFL-CIO, said that despite stronger economic growth and a soaring stock market, “America’s middle class is in deep trouble.” Liberals say the problem of stagnant wages require urgent action. “We need to be extremely aggressive to deal with income and wealth inequality,” said Vermont Sen.

The city has played up its diversity as the home to a large Latino population and organizers are confident that Brooklyn’s bid — the first time New York has pitched a political convention outside Manhattan — wouldn’t have trouble raising money. Donohue told reporters Warren was “a very pleasant woman if you sit down and have a cup of tea with her… but if she runs for president, I don’t think the American people will share her views.” Republicans, now in control of both houses of Congress, plan an ongoing siege of Dodd-Frank. Clinton will speak in Winnipeg and Saskatoon as part of the Global Perspective speaker’s series sponsored by the Toronto-based bank with millions of clients and tens of thousands of employees.

It also cited some of the chief parts of Obama’s economic program, such as efforts to raise the federal minimum wage, spend more on roads, bridges and public works, offer paid leave for workers and help students pay for college. The judge, she notes, probably outweighed her by a hundred pounds, and “he started shifting himself closer to the microphone and edging me out of his way.

Columbus, meanwhile, would bring the convention to one of the nation’s top presidential battleground states and offer a convenient rebuttal to Republicans, who are holding their July 2016 convention in Cleveland. But the report also offered other ideas with broad appeal in the party: tax credits for middle-class families, incentives for employees to partake in profit-sharing, attention to collective bargaining rights and tying the repayment of student loans to a graduate’s income earned over two decades or more.

Downplaying symbolism, party leaders say their choice will be based on practical matters such as finances, transportation, security and available hotel rooms. Along with Summers, the commission included the center’s president and CEO, Neera Tanden, a former Hillary Clinton policy adviser; former Michigan Gov. Organizers of the 2012 convention in Charlotte struggled with fundraising and some delegates at past conventions have complained of long commutes from far-flung hotels. “This decision will primarily center around logistics, financing and security, but we have three excellent options and are looking forward to a diverse and inclusive 2016 convention that displays our party’s values,” said Lily Adams, a DNC spokeswoman. Jennifer Granholm, a leader of a political action committee set to back a Clinton candidacy; and Steven Rattner, who was chief adviser to Obama’s auto bailout task force and is a longtime Clinton donor. But it’s the paid speeches complete with hefty paychecks and perks that have caused controversy, leading some to accuse her of appearing out of touch. “Hillary Clinton has been raking in cash from speeches to the wealthy elite for years,” said Jeff Bechdel, a spokesman for America Rising, a conservative opposition research group. “It’s no surprise Clinton is getting paid by a company that has off-shore accounts and will lobby the U.S. government for more favorable treatment if she becomes president.

Most notably, it does not advocate for the breakup of Wall Street banks, which Warren has sought, and does not push for a higher minimum wage beyond the $10.10 pushed by Obama. “In some areas, the report represents a largely Washington establishment perspective, and isn’t as bold as folks outside the Beltway are probably ready for,” Galland said. Jared Bernstein, a former economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, said much of the report offered ideas that could unite broad parts of the Democratic coalition.